Hot Chicken, Root Beer, Crab Fat: 10 Hot Topics On Food Republic

Hot chicken: It’s what’s for dinner! More specifically, it’s what was for dinner when we took visiting Nashville chef Matt Bolus to two different restaurants in Brooklyn serving his native city’s specialty dish. We jotted down his thoughts on the Big Apple’s renditions, then jetted off to Cinque Terre, Italy, to compile a food guide to the collection of coastal villages that’s become an American tourist favorite over the past few years. We experimented cooking with crab fat (spoiler alert: do it!) and made stops in Minneapolis, Atlanta and Seattle to interview hometown chefs and explore up-and-coming wine scenes. We also cooked lamb merguez terrine, explored the vast world of root beer — yes, the alcoholic kind — and discovered the perfect device for making grilled sandwiches. All that and more on this week’s Hot Topics on Food Republic.